Superb Scott Jamieson falls just short of Abu Dhabi berth as Charl Schwartzel retains title

Scott Jamieson secured the biggest pay-day of his career with a storming finish in the Joburg Open yesterday but agonisingly missed out on a place in this week's Abu Dhabi Championship, the first big-money event of the year on the European Tour.

To the delight of the home crowds at Royal Johannesburg and Royal Kensington, Charl Schwartzel made a successful defence of his title in the final event on the South African swing, the 26-year-old closing with a scrappy four-under-par 67 to finish four shots ahead of fellow Springbok Garth Mulroy.

However, it was also a rewarding day for Jamieson,who started the final round in a tie for 38th but shot up the leaderboard with a best-of-the-day 65 to finish sixth on 11-under-par 273. The 27-year-old, who had seven birdies on his card, earned a career-best cheque for 38,241, with the only tinge of disappointment being that he just missed out on the top-five finish that would have earned him a place in the first of the four events in the Middle East over the next month.

After picking up three birdies in a row from the 16th, Jamieson had a good chance for another one at the par-5 closing hole, only to see his 10-feet birdie putt stay above ground after shaving the side of the hole.

Instead of moving on to Abu Dhabi, the Challenge Tour graduate will pay a flying visit home to Glasgow today before heading over to America to spend some time with his girlfriend. He's due back in Scotland for fellow Tour player George Murray's wedding early next month before resuming his rookie campaign, either in Dubai or, failing that, India the following week.

"It was a good round today. I played well in the rain and putted very well," said the former Scottish amateur No 1, who finished 30th in the Alfred Dunhill Championship before Christmas but then missed the cut in the next two events in South Africa.

"I had a good chance of a birdie at the last but it shaved the hole. However, I would definitely have taken a 65 before I went out. I had looked at the leaderboard and knew at that point that I would have gone into the top five if I'd holed that putt.

"I had a good first week, then had a couple of disappointing weeks but this was another good one. I'm just trying to play my own game and plod along really. It's disappointing that I didn't get into Abu Dhabi but I might get into Dubai through my ranking as it's a bigger field there. If not, my next event will be in India."

David Drysdale, who went into the final round just a shot off the lead, had an off day as he slumped to a 76 to finish in a tie for 13th on 276.Third in the same event two years ago, the 35-year-old got off to a nightmare start by dropping five shots in his first four holes, rallied a bit with back-to-back birdies before the turn but then spilled three more shots coming home.

Marc Warren and Lloyd Saltman both closed with 72s to finish in a tie for 20th on 278, but Steven O'Hara, fourth in last week's Africa Open, finished well down the field on this occasion, a final-round 74 leaving him in joint-62nd on 286.

Schwartzel's win saw him became only the third South African after Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman to successfully defend a European Tour title, On a day that began with grey skies, followed by rain and then saw him playing his closing holes under bright sunshine, the world No 32 recorded six birdies and two bogeys despite struggling with his long game, especially on the back nine where he hit just one fairway.

"Thomas and Garth probably outplayed me on the back nine by quite a bit, but I just managed to get the ball in the hole," he said . "For me I didn't really play well on those last nine holes, but I just kept telling myself 'you've got a good short game and you can do it' and my putting along with the short game came to the rescue. I had to really dig deep there on the back nine and managed to make a score. I'm really pleased that all my hard work has paid off."